Adam had Emergency Surgery

Adam, aka, the Boop, had to have emergency surgery last week to remove his appendix. It all happened so fast, I think I’m still somewhat in shock.

The Boop’s Surgery

Jen and I were just getting home from day one of Bloggy Boot Camp (it was awesome BTW—bummed we missed day 2,) which was held in downtown Chicago, when I got a text from my ex-husband, Mike. He was originally going to be taking Boop and his sister Chesney up to Rockford for the night to see his grandparents.

He said that he stayed home with the Boop while Ches went up with his parents. He explained that he was complaining of stomach pain and had a low-grade fever of 99.4. I called him immediately and poor Boop was just miserable. He said he didn’t know how to explain it. “I can’t use the bathroom and I feel like I want to barf but can’t.”

With the way this year has been going for us with medical nightmares around every corner, I said “Why don’t I just meet you in the ER?” Plus, that parental gut instinct was nagging at both Mike and me. Lesson: ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR GUT!

Mike lives near a hospital that just opened in February of this year. We have never been there, but decided to check it out. By the time I got there, it was around 10 pm and Boop was already taken back in the ER.

The doctor, of course, examined his belly by pushing here and there and asked a variety of questions. But Boop said “it burns when I pee.” So we all thought oh, that explains it, you probably have a bladder infection!

Well, his urine came back negative, so they decided to take some blood. His white blood cells were a little high, so they said they’d like to do a CT Scan to rule out appendicitis.

Sure enough, the scan showed that his appendix was inflamed and that he would need to have surgery to remove it. They don’t really know what causes appendicitis and treating it with antibiotics is pretty pointless, it just becomes inflamed again and then you run the chance of it bursting. If it bursts, it’s a total mess and potentially life-threatening.

Because we caught this early, he was able to have laparoscopic surgery. They make small incisions and fill your body with a gas so they have room to look around.

Be warned: if you’ve never experienced this (I had this when I had my tubal ligation) the pain is pretty awful when the gas is leaving your body. Because it is not in your digestive tract, it doesn’t have anywhere to go but out your pores. For me it was my shoulders that were killing me. For Boop, it was his back.

Boop took everything like a champ. He was so brave!

The surgery went very well. He went in around 3 am and he was in the recovery room just before 4am. As a parent, you never want to see your baby’s body harmed in any way. Knowing it’s for the best helps, but also having a surgeon take this into consideration and make the smallest cuts possible, is also great.

They don’t even use stitches anymore! Instead they use a surgical “glue.” No bandages are needed, and you can even shower right away!

He spent, in total, about 2 days in the hospital. Ordinarily I’d be saying this with a negative tone, but this hospital is amazing! The rooms are enormous, equipped with flat screen TV’s with built in DVD players, mood lighting and a couch for visitors! It was like staying in a 5-star hotel.

The staff was super thoughtful and friendly. Thanks to all the technology, Boop actually had fun while recovering. I gave him my iPad so he could play games, and then we watched movies I brought from home together in his room. They even let you adjust the thermostat in your room so you’re not freezing!

The surgeon gave me photographs of the operation which I’ve included below… (They are graphic, so if you have a weak stomach, DON’T LOOK!) If you know me, you know I’m a total science freak.

This was like a gory Christmas present! I would never want anything like this happen, but if it has to happen, yeah, I want to see it!!! So, if you share my interest in guts…

I would like to give huge thanks to Mike for not blowing off the Boop’s symptoms. It’s so easy to just say “It’s gas, it will pass!” when it comes to tummy aches. But he listened to Boop and his instincts and we were able to catch this before it got really bad.

I’d also like to thank everyone at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox for making us so comfortable. And a huge thank you goes to the surgeon and everyone involved for taking good care of the Boop and giving me pictures! 😀